Just One More Time
by Forscythe
Summary: Fresh out of therapy, Aurain (Ryan Kennedy) finds himself over in Japan. Upon hearing Kirito's plight, mixed with his own problems, Aurain reluctantly dives into ALO along with Kirito. Sequel to Just One Last Time. Should probably read that first.


Right so here's the sequel I said was going to go up. And yes, this is chapter fourteen of the old story, but like I said, I prefer it separate since the poll was so close.

As a quick reminder

Kirito = Kazuto

Lisbeth = Rika

Lyfa = Suguha

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Chapter I: Welcome to Japan

* * *

I looked at the humble japanese house behind the gate and double checked the address. My phone confirmed the address. Kazuto had sounded so anxious over the phone, that I had opted out of visiting Rika right away. Despite my own need to see her, she and I could wait a little longer.

I wasn't entirely sure of Japanese custom, so I just stepped up to the door and knocked on it loudly. I heard some scuffling inside, before a young Japanese girl that probably wasn't much older than me opened the door.

"Hello!" She greeted cheerfully, "Kirigaya residence!"

"Ah." I felt my cheeks slightly flushing. Even with my experience in SAO with people, and girls, I still got horribly nervous and shy around them. Especially if they were as pretty as what I assumed was Kazuto's sister, "My n-name's Ryan Kennedy. Kazuto might have mentioned I was coming?"

"Oh." her voice took on a taint of mistrust, "That American friend he made while playing SAO. Come on in. Kazuto's taking a shower but he'll be done soon."

"R-right." I cursed under my breath. My stuttering was already becoming an issue again. It was probably due to not having much contact with anybody outside of my family for the last few weeks

I followed her inside. Surprisingly after her first signs of hostility, she became much nicer. Maybe it was from how timid I was acting and she felt bad. Anways, she sat me down in the kitchen on a stool, and handed me a glass of something cool and brown. It turned out to be a nice flavor of tea I didn't really recognize. It tasted kind of nutty.

"My name's Suguha." She introuduced herself with a small smile, "Sorry for the rude greeting earlier. I was expecting someone more like that idiot Klein."

I chuckled, my nervousness dissappearing a little, "He's not so bad once you get to know him."

"Hmph." She frowned, "Brother says the same thing."

"What do I say?" Kirito walked into the room in a pair of sports shorts and a plain white shirt.

Suguha took on an interesting shade of red and flailed so much in her chair she practically fell off

"B-brother!?"

"Hi." Kirito grinned and rubbed her head. Suguha scowled up at him, but the corners of her mouth were threatening to twitch upwards. I was a little confused. Kirito always told me he and his sister weren't especially close whenever someone brought it up.

_'I guess they really got close after SAO. Good for them.'_

"Oh right, I probably should. Hey Ryan. Welcome to Japan."

"Huh?" I saw Kirito holding out one hand, "O-Oh. Thanks Kazuto."

"You're welcome," Kirito shook my hand with a wry grin, "You still space out from time to time huh?"

I grinned sheepishly and nodded.

"Well I let you guys catch up." Suguha excused herself, "I've got a few things I need to do in my room."

I gave a little wave to her and turned to face Kazuto in my chair. We sat in silence until Suguha was well and gone. Then I broke the ice.

"So what were you so anxious about?" I asked worriedly, "Is there another situation like SAO that I haven't heard about?"

"No it's not like that." Kazuto shook his head, "This is more of a personal issue."

"About Asuna? Shoot."

"You know what ALO is right?" Kazuto shoved a picture into my hands, "I think this'll explain part of what I'm stressed about."

I looked down at the photo curiously. It was a blurry picture of a familiar looking girl in a giant metal cage. The orange hair gave it away.

"Asuna?" I waved the picture in the air, "How can she be in two places?"

"Someone in ALO took that photo. From next to a place called the 'World Tree'" Kazuto replied.

'_Wonder if this is connected to the cyberterrorism in any way. Can't hurt to check it out. I want to help Kazuto anyways. Not to mention Asuna is my friend too. I can't abandon a friend. I have so few, and I'd feel terrible if I betrayed even one. _So what's the plan hero? We go in and save your girlfriend?"

"I wish it was that simple." Kazuto sighed in frustration, "I've never even set foot in ALO, and I only have a month to save her."

"Only a month?" I cocked my head in confusion.

"Right you wouldn't know." Kazuto wrung his hands together, "I'll have to start from the beginning."

The story went like this. The director of RECTO Progress Inc, Sugou Nobuyuki, was going to marry Asuna in one month. This was arranged by him and Asuna's father, even though Asuna wasn't particularly fond of Sugou. Unfortunately, her scumbag father and Sugou were going to do it while she was unconcious regardless of her feelings (mostly because her father didn't know about her feelings, but it was still scummy. Kazuto figured that Asuna was only still unconcious because she was in ALO, with no way to logout. This was based on that picture he had showed me. When he was done with the tale, he begged me to help.

"As if I'd say no." I grinned widely and gave a thumbs up, "I'm not going to abandon two of my friends. Especially not ones as good as you guys

"Thanks." Kirito grabbed me in a quick hug. I turned red from embarassment. It was no big deal. He acted like I was doing him some big favor. Asuna was my friend too.

"Y-you're welcome." I coughed and looked slightly at the ground when Kirito let go, "So w-when are we diving?"

"Whenever you're ready." Kirito patted a game case next to his thigh, "Do you have the game already?"

I nodded, "Yeah it's already loaded onto my NerveGear."

What I DIDN'T mention was that the CIA had already created me a top tier character that a member had already highly leveled his skills based on what my SAO character used. I wasn't going to have to waste any time getting to the rest of the levels of ALO's playerbase. I would only have to get used to the system, which would allow me to explore with ease. It would make finding this apparent cyber-terrorist easier. I still didn't have much to go on however, but I could FEEL that Asuna was tied in somehow. If I helped Kirito and solved my job at the same time, I was happy.

The Kirigaya household actually had a spare bedroom. Kirito's aunt was very nice and had actually agreed to let me stay there while I was visiting. I told Kirito that he should make a Spriggan. When he asked why, I told him that I had already created my character and that we'd spawn in the same town, making finding Asuna easier. He shrugged and nodded in agreement.

I flopped down on the bed and unloaded my fairly new goverment laptop and my nervegear. The CIA offered to give me an AmuSphere, but the old battered helmet felt so familiar I just wasn't able to let it go. I rubbed it fondly and slipped it on my head. Luckily NerveGears were still compatible with ALO even though no one sold them anymore for obvious reasons.

"Here we go..." I slipped the helmet on my head and lied down, "Link Start!"

The familiar many colored pillars rushed by my face before my eyes were blinded by bright light. I blinked once or twice. I was in the middle of some sort of south american like ruins.

'_Right the Spriggan's entire territory is covered in ancient ruins.'_ I tapped my temple with one finger, trying to remember all the information the CIA had told me on ALO, '_Maybe this is the capitol?'_

I looked around slowly. There were several players walking around, some joking with each other, others juggling piles of some kind of treasure in an attempt not to drop it. The comaderie and friendliness was completely different than what I'd expected based on my character model. I had gotten a preview of it before entering the world. I was wearing a black hooded cloak, and similarly dark clothes. The model itself was fairly similar to my ALO model with the exception of my slightly spiked hair With a shrug, I pulled up my menu to see what weapon the CIA guy had given me. My heart jumped a little out of my chest when I saw my claws from SAO sitting innocently in there next to a normal set of claws. With a quivering finger, I equipped the old things and let them materialize over my hands. A brief jolt of electricity shot through my body. I rolled my shoulders a little, and shook it off.

"New to VRMMOs?" I looked slightly to the right to see a guy in green clothing and with blonde hair approaching me rapidly. With a massive grin he stuck out his hand for me to shake. I grabbed it warily.

"Er h-hello." I shook his hand, "And to answer your question, no I'm not. I was actually part of SAO."

"Really?" he grinned even wider, "You must be damn brave to enter another VRMMO."

"Eh... I w-wouldn't call myself brave by any stretch," I scratched one cheek in embarrassment.

"Wait..." His eyes glanced back between my face and right above my head, "Are you... that Aurain?"

"W-which Aurain?" I replied with a nervous chuckle.

"The one that was at the end of the final battle in ALO!" he replied very excitedly and loudly. I winced at the loudness and rubbed one finger in my ear to try and clear out the ringing. I wasn't expecting some sort of fanboy waiting for me in ALO. I probably should have been expecting one though. The VRMMO crowd probably idolized the entire group at the final battle. I cleared my throat and tried to respond without a stutter.

"Yeah that was me." I slowly replied. Better to bring out the truth then and there. It was bound to get out eventually.

"Really!? Oh this is so cool!" he began shaking my hand vigourously, practically pulling my arm out of the socket, "Really pleased to meet you."

"I can tell." I muttered quietly.

"Sorry about fanboying like this." He rubbed the back of his head with a sheepish grin

"R-right." I coughed, "Well now that you know my name, mind giving me yours?"

"Sure!" He grinned and pointed a thumb at his chest, "Name's Gamalir. An honor to meet you."

If I was an anime character, my sweatdrop would've been massive. I sighed, and asked the next question that came to my mind.

"What's a Sylph doing over here in Spriggan territory? Don't most people have all sorts of superstitions about us?"

Gamalir raised one eyebrow, "Ah so you did a little research before joining? It's true that most people think all sorts of things about you guys, but I don't really care. I'm good friends with quite a few of the Spriggans around here. Just 'cause you guys can do illusions doesn't mean you're bad people. Besides, Sylphs and Spriggans are on pretty good terms with each other."

My respect for my enthusiatic new acquaintance grew a little right then and there. I had planned on trying to be as nice as possible and trying to sneak away when he wasn't looking, but I figured sticking around and getting to know him wasn't going to kill me. He might even turn out to be a good friend. His statement of good terms reminded me that the entire game was built around PvP. I was going to have to get comfortable with killing other players. I reminded myself quickly that they wouldn't die in the real world, and that everything would be fine.

_'Speaking of friends...where the heck is Kirito?'_ I slapped my forehead, and pulled up the messaging interface. Gamalir looked at me curiously, but surprisingly decided not to ask. I quickly typed in Kirito's name and tapped my foot impatiently. He answered almost immediate, a little window with his face popping up in front of me. Gamalir looked curiously around and saw the name/face. He started bouncing up and down in excitement at the name, but managed to keep his mouth shut.

"Oh hi Aurain!" Kirito spun around in the window, "Is this important? I'm a little busy!"

"Er well not that important." I replied, "I was just wondering where you are? It looks like you made a Spriggan, so why aren't you in the capitol like I am?"

"I uh... Kirito face suddenly started spinning even more wildly, "I'll explain LATTTTTERRR!"

The communication window suddenly closed. I stared at the blank screen and slowly reached up with my finger to close it.

"Uhhhh?" I looked over to Gamalir who had a look of dissapointment on his face

"I never expected one of my heros to have so much trouble with flying..." Gamalir sighed.

"We're only human. Just like you." I replied, "I don't suppose you know where Kirito was?"

Gamalir paused for a moment, his brow furrowed in concentration. He replied soon enough.

"It should say on your friends list, but that looked like a forest in Sylph territory." Gamalir replied in a puzzled tone, "Didn't you say he just made his character?"

"Yeah...but he and I tend to draw trouble to us like nobody else I've ever met." I rubbed the bridge of my nose, already feeling a headache forming, "What's the fastest way to Sylph territory?"

"Well normally you'd go through the tunnel, then through Aarun, which is the city at the base of Yggdrasil. But..."

"But?" I paused midstep, my map screen already open.

Gamalir shuffled through some menus and brought out an item. The scroll like item fell softly into his hands.

"If you're on my friends list we can use this to teleport to Sylph territory. The capitol actually. Its designed that way so you don't bring any potential enemies right into the city. I wouldn't even be able to add you if you were a Salamander."

"Why?" my hand stopped halfway to the add friend button. I was in a hurry, Kirito could be getting into all sorts of trouble over in another race's territory with no knowledge of the game.

"Well its like this. To put it as short as possible... we're at war with the Salamanders over territory and resources."

"There's that kind of thing in ALO? _They sure didn't mention this back in briefing. It's going to be annoying trying to investigate everywhere if I could be attacked on sight._ Are the Spriggans at war with anyone?"

"Nah." Gamalir shrugged, "You guys just stick to yourselves and no one even likes entering this territory. Like I said, people are superstitious for stupid reasons."

'_Well that's convenient.'_ I finished sending the friend request to Gamalir. An equal amount of pleasure and dread filled my body at his joyful expression.

"Right-o, you want the quick way to Sylvein!" He grinned, "Just grab my shoulder and we'll be there in a few seconds."

"Right." I grabbed his shoulder firmly.

"Activate!" a glowing light enveloped us. Everything went dark for a few moments before bright lights blinded me. I blinked for a few seconds, before everything came into focus. It was surprisingly dark, and the white buildings of the city were illuminated by pale green lights on every corner.

"When did it become night-time?" I asked Gamalir in confusion.

"Oh I forgot to mention the side-effects of using these." He replied, "Time actually passes without you knowing it. It's sorta like a plane ride that still lasts a few hours, but you don't actually notice the time passing."

"Ah. I expected it to be instantaneous."

"Most people do. The creator did it so people can't abuse it in fights between races."

"Makes sense."

I pulled up my chat interface and looked up Kirito again. A little circle spun over and over for a few moments before he picked up. I saw a blonde-haired girl staring curiously behind him.

"Yo Kirito." I gave a brief wave to the black swordsman

"You got here faster than I expected." Kirito raised an eyebrow, "Isn't Spriggan territory on the other side of the continent."

"I had some help from a fan." I replied, thumbing to the enthusiatic teen behind me "I've actually been here for an hour or two waiting for you with him."

"A fan?" Kirito started to grin widely.

"Don't even start." I said grumpily, "He's your fan too. I'm pretty sure he'd have a heartattack if Klein, Lisbeth, Asuna and the rest of the crew were all in the same room with him and us."

"Ah." Kirito's grin rapidly faded.

I glanced over Kirito's shoulder, seeing the blonde-haired girl getting more impatient by the second.

"Where'd you find a new girl to get a crush on you already?" I teased. Kirito had told me after SAO through a series of calls and emails about his absurd love life. Apparently he'd made several girls other than Asuna fall in love with him, having a allure neither of us really understood.

"Hell if I know." Kirito retorted, "I just met her an hour or so ago. You've picked up too much from Klein."

"Fine fine." I waved a hand in front of my face with a barely concealed grin. Kirito and I weren't especially good friends in SAO, but our weeks of online communication during rehab had done wonders for us being close, "So why'd you end up over here instead of the Spriggan capitol?"

"It's a bit of a long story. Can this wait? I've actually got a lot of stuff to explain to you, and She's really starting to get angry. I'd really rather talk to you at the inn when we have plenty of time. Here I'll message you the location of the inn we're at." Kirito looked furtively back and forth between me and the girl.

"Alright." I closed the window and waited patiently for the map data to transfer over.

I looked back to my new friend(?) to see if he wanted to tag along. For some strange reason the guy looked really nervous all of a sudden.

"Are you all right?" I asked

"Yeah. Peachy." He replied nervously, "I'll uh... catch up with you later. Got things to do. Places to be!"

Gamalir took off in a hurry leaving me with a very confused expression on my face. I shrugged and headed off in the direction my navigation system told me the inn was. It didn't take too long to reach it. I pushed open the door and stepped into the room. It smelled like a lot of the SAO inns did. Warm, comforting, and with spicy tang that reminded me of apple cider. Luckily Kirito stuck out like a sore thumb in his black outfit. I probably did too. Kirito saw me approaching and gave me a cheerful wave. I waved back, feeling slightly nervous at the pretty girl seated across from him. Life sure enjoyed testing my nerves.

"Leafa." Kirito pointed a thumb at me when I got to the table, "This is Aurain. He's a friend of mine."

"Well at least he's better geared than you." Leafa looked me up and down, "Nice to meet you."

Kirito looked at me suspiciously at the better geared comment, but shrugged it off. It was probably on his list of questions to ask me at the inn.

"T-thanks." I replied nervously and took a seat awkwardly. I wished dearly Kirito had made friends with a average girl for once. I didn't need pretty ones around me all the time making me nervous. Lisbeth was the only one that was okay, and that was because she was special. I've probably mentioned this before, but she just made me feel comfortable around her. I was only worried that it wouldn't be the same in the real world, and I'd suddenly be afraid of her. I shook that particular thought off, refusing to let that happen whenever I got time to meet her.

Leafa and Kirito were so wrapped up in their own conversation they didn't really even pay attention to me. I was fine with that. I would've just been a stuttering mess with Leafa, and anything I wanted to say to Kirito really needed to wait until private anyways.

Suddenly Kirito slammed his arms down on the table, causing me to jump and let out a surprised yelp since I had been lost in my own world up till that point.

"Calm down Kirito." I raised an eyebrow, trying not to get nervous at his intense expression. An expression I only really knew he got while Asuna's life was on the line.

"Sorry." He apologized and leaned back in his seat, "It's just... I need to find someone, and I think they're up there. And I need to do it soon."

Kirito shoved his chair back, and left in haste to the front desk. I saw him pay the innkeeper, and then storm up the stairs. I blinked. Kirito was really torn up about Asuna possibly being held captive. I sighed and got out of my chair to follow him. I would have suceeded, but a slender hand grabbed me by the forearm.

"Explain."

Why was it always the aggressive girls that I had to deal with? I half-heartedly tried to free my arm from her hold, but soon gave up and sat down.

"I guess I'll give the short version." I grumbled, "K-Kirito wants to save s-someone he thinks is at the top of t-that tree, but he's only g-got a month to do it."

"How important is this person to him?" Leafa's face softened.

"Pretty i-important." I flinched back as she leaned forward.

One of her eyebrows raised, and she leaned forward. I leaned back further by reflex. She leaned even further forward, and I leaned even further.

"Are you afraid of girls?" Her eyebrow went even further up her forehead

"No."

She leaned so close our noses were practically touching

"Okay maybe a little." I sighed in relief as she backed away, "But it's more of a general nervousness I have around people I'm not really well-acquainted with."

"Sorry if I make you uncomfortable then. It's kinda a pity too, you're kinda cute and Kirito's friend, so you must be pretty nice."

"I've got a g-girlfriend anyways." I replied

"Really?" Leafa sounded surprised, and my pride as a guy went down a little, "Well I guess it makes sense if you look like this in the real world."

I blushed at that one. Good lord Lisbeth would kill this girl if she was here to hear all these comments.

"A-anyways." I got up from the table for the second time, "I've got some things I want to talk to K-Kirito about so I'm gonna go.

"Is he serious?"

I paused and debated answering her. I was too nice to ignore her, so I did.

"Kirito's serious. He always is when he sets his mind out to do something. Especially involving the person he wants to rescue. He'd climb 1000 world trees if he had too. Luckily he doesn't have to do it alone. I'll be along to help whether he wants it or not."

"Are you as strong as him?" She asked so soft I barely heard her.

"Thereabouts." I nodded, knowing the way the system worked in ALO, allowing even newbies to be strong.

"Wow..." Leafa sighed

"Well goodbye." I took off towards the front desk. I didn't make it far.

"You two are really going to travel there all alone?"

"I said so didn't I?" Now I was getting impatient. If the girl had something to say, I wished she'd just say it.

"I...I...I'm coming with you!"

Huh?

I turned around and looked at the girl who was now brightly blushing at her outburst. She looked down at the ground instead of my face, which I was sure had a puzzled expression on it.

"You sure?" I asked, "You barely know Kirito, me even less."

"Yes I'm sure." Suddenly the aggressive assertive Leafa was back, and I felt my newfound confidence rapidly fading, "Do either of you really even know that much about this game, or even how to get to the world tree?"

"Ah, n-not r-really."

"I thought so." Leafa got to her feet and looked at me determinedly, "That's why I'm accompanying the two of you. To make sure neither of you get in trouble."

"I don't s-suppose this is o-optional?" I asked weakly.

"Nope." Leafa grinned, "See you two tomorrow at 3 pm."

And with that she logged out. I stared blankly at the spot she was a moment ago, and then shook my head wearily. It was always the aggressive ones. Why couldn't I ever deal with meek nice girls that didn't want to argue about everything? Maybe Japan just didn't have them.

* * *

Big chapter for likely a bigger story than the last. We'll see.

-Forscythe.


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